Responding to John Marten’s letter of Dec. 9 about Republicans piling up debt, I wonder what his reaction will be when he becomes aware of the “spring break trip” or “school trip” that Malia Obama and 12 of her friends took in March to Mexico, despite the fact that Mexico is very dangerous. The cost was $115,500. Meanwhile, vacations by the Obama family have totaled more than $1 million since 2009. It must be nice to be able to have that many pricey vacations. I thought we as a nation are in the red.